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| Farewell Spit courtesy of Google - it's at the northwest tip of the South Island |
Sean and I spent our one full day in Collingwood hiking in and around Farewell Spit which provided both amazing scenery and incessant high winds.
We did a few short hikes in the morning and then one long hike which took us out onto the spit later in the afternoon. On our first hike we went out to a remote beach which was so windy we could barely stand up. The upside of the wind was that it made incredible marbleized designs in the sand. On our way back we saw seal pups playing in the lower pools that were a bit more sheltered than the wide open beach.
On our second hike we made it to Cape Farewell and saw lots of steep cliffs with interesting rock formations. To get to all of these places involved driving on kilometers of unpaved roads, passing through farmlands and opening/closing multiple livestock gates and following haphazard and occasionally placed trail markers. Throughout the whole day I think we saw about three other people, tops.
During our last hike, we walked out as far as we could on the actual sandbar. Since it was low tide the shallow water seemed to stretch for miles and the pools were filled with shorebirds eager for an easy meal.
When we crossed over to the other side of the sand bar, the wind became almost unbearable, which we had been warned about. We walked on the dunes for awhile until sand had penetrated every possible human crevice and then decided it was time to turn around. Being out on the spit was such an unusual experience because it was so remote and wild - it felt like being in one of Shel Silverstien's books because you could literally see where the earth came to an end. Luckily, neither one of us fell off.
So beautiful!
That's my girl! I knew I raised you right. Once a SANDerson, always a SANDerson. d